Pros, cons: Three known pitches to Brightline for Treasure Coast station intriguing, but ...

With Brightline expected to announce a Treasure Coast station stop soon, I took another look at the three proposals we know have been submitted to the higher-speed passenger train company.

Two others — reportedly from private entities ― were made, but have not been released.

Brightline, based on terms of a legal settlement with Martin County, is supposed to have a station open in Martin or St. Lucie counties by 2028. Proposals were submitted by Dec. 22.

The three we know of ― two from local governments; the other from Audubon Development, slated to build the $155 million King’s Landing development where Fort Pierce’s former power plant sat downtown — seem impressive.

None of the known proposals ideal, but ...

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That said, I’ve got issues with all three.

But I’m not Brightline.

And, as in any business venture, partners rarely get everything they want.

With that in mind, here’s how I’d assess the proposals made on specs released to the public:

Audubon Development, 300 block of North Second Street, Fort Pierce

Site: 2.3 acres, with 465 parking spaces, including 200 for Brightline in a $21 million garage.

Terms: As part of a public-private partnership with Indian River State College and its foundation, the station ($17 million) would include “dining facilities with a kitchen highlighting Indian River State College’s culinary program, a museum featuring the art and history of the Treasure Coast ($30 million), and luxury apartments ($36 million).”

It would be adjacent to King's Landing's 140-room Marriott hotel, restaurants, shops, luxury villas and condominiums, and a 249-slip marina, two blocks from the Sunrise Theatre.

Pros: Good location, not only in Fort Pierce, but centrally located on the Treasure Coast; Audubon owns the land.

Cons: The city of Fort Pierce tapped Audubon in June 2019 to develop the site, but nothing is near completion. Audubon changed plans, resulting in an early 2022 battle with some city residents over increasing its tallest building from 8 to 11 stories.

Governmental investment, an issue with three proposals. Having seen multimillion-dollar follies by Port St. Lucie and other public entities into Digital Domain, VGTI and INEOS, I’m skeptical of further risk-taking with our money.

The proposal says “IRSC will use its statutory authorities to expedite the construction phase of the project and will assist in seeking supplemental funding via federal grants.” The college foundation, also a partner, is allowed to shield certain information, such as donor records, from the public.

Also worrisome is the project’s suggestion that IRSC and its foundation are in “final negotiations” to build “supporting/linked infrastructure” on its main campus, “including a new event space, hotel and international dive complex. Upon selection, IRSC/IRSC Foundation will examine ways to expand this construction thrust to include the new downtown Brightline stop.”

Does IRSC really need to give up public land on campus (or downtown) for this kind of massive infrastructure, both of which seem to deviate from its core mission? If essential, why not lease property for culinary students downtown?

Further IRSC mission creep is contained in a letter Audubon provided from college President Tim Moore, who said IRSC would “engage” its foundation board to “secure financial investment” to “provide up to” 5,000 rail passes for its full-time students.

City of Stuart and Martin County, 500 SE Flagler Ave., Stuart

Site: 2.35 acres just south of Southeast Ocean Boulevard, with a parking garage containing up to 450 spaces. It’s a five-minute walk to downtown.

Terms: Stuart would lease land to Brightline for up to 80 years at $1 a year. The county and Brightline would pay for up to 50% of the station costs, not to exceed $15 million each, which county officials hope would be offset largely by grants. Stuart would pay up to $30 million for a parking garage.

The Martin County Tourist Development Council would commit up to $800,000, including $200,000 to buy tickets, to market Brightline service.

Pros: Transparency — the city and county commissions publicly approved the proposal for an area relatively close to downtown with redevelopment opportunity.

Martin County residents are more likely than their neighbors to be able to afford Brightline service.

Martin’s median household income in 2022 was $77,894, topping Indian River ($67,543), Florida ($67,917) and St. Lucie ($66,154), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Per-capita income from 2022 provided by Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows even more dramatic differences, with Martin ($110,336) and Indian River ($105,250), dwarfing St. Lucie ($52,363).

Cons: This site is not as centrally located on the Treasure Coast as Fort Pierce, nor is it in the heart of a downtown.

Public costs. Neither government appears to have performed a return-on-investment analysis proving it's a wise investment of our money.

Credit, however, goes to Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard, who asked tough fiscal questions of staff. In a meeting, she asked what would happen if the governments made a deal with Brightline and grants did not come through as planned. She said she’d be OK if the county had to spend $3 million, but maybe not $10 million. She was told the county would be on the hook for 50% regardless.

City of Fort Pierce, 200 block of Depot Drive

Site: 2.37 acres with 675 parking spaces nearby, including 210 for Brightline. This would include a 124-car expansion of the county garage across from the courthouse.

Terms: Fort Pierce would lease the station, expected to cost $20 million, to Brightline for $1 a year.

In addition, the city would spend up to $40 million over five years on various other neighborhood improvements, including a “vibrant pedestrian promenade” that would tie the station to the rest of downtown.

The St. Lucie County Tourist Development Council would commit $250,000 for three years for tickets, and IRSC would seek to fund passes as it did in the Audubon proposal.

Pros: Overall planning vision. This project could dramatically remake the area behind the Sunrise Theatre, feeding downtown at its heart and adding parking to support the many uses there.

A potential connection to land across the tracks owned by Florida East Coast Railway, Brightline’s sister, would give the company amazing development opportunities with a pedestrian overpass. The undeveloped FEC land is east of U.S. 1 across from the federal courthouse.

Downtown Fort Pierce has access to a port and the best access to Florida’s Turnpike and Interstate 95. It’s only 17 miles to commercial air traffic in Vero Beach, while Treasure Coast International Airport, less than 5 miles away, hopes to get some soon.

This plan has an impressive portfolio of support letters from Lincoln Park Main Street to the city of Fellsmere.

Cons: Like the other public proposal, the big question is taxpayer exposure.

How much can the city afford and what will taxpayers receive in return? What would happen if Brightline does not succeed and the city is stuck with a train station, platform and other things?

No ROI analysis has been done, though Peter Tesch, president of the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County, said it was commissioning an economic impact analysis for the station and “proposed associated development.”

Bottom line: Fort Pierce seems like the best location for the first Treasure Coast Brightline station.

That said, as Vero Beach downtown consultant and urban planner Andres Duany noted at recent meetings, there eventually ― as our counties continue to grow rapidly ― will be commuter rail on the Treasure Coast.

It could take decades. In the meantime, if Brightline decides working with the government is in its best interest, taxpayers ought to make sure they’re getting a deal, too.

After all, the Treasure Coast ledger of taxpayer largesse has lots of stains on it.

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Brightline station proposals neat, but is government involvement wise?